Is AI a strategist's friend or foe?

Ad strategists are navigating two realities on AI: its benefit as a research tool, and the fear it may take their jobs. In the first of WARC's Future of Strategy series, Nikita Walia (U.N.N.A.M.E.D) and Joe Burns (Quality Meats) join Ann Marie Kerwin to examine whether AI is a strategist's friend, foe, or something in the middle, based on new data from WARC research.Guests:Nikita Walia, Partner & Strategist, U.N.N.A.M.E.D;Joe Burns, Partner and Head of Strategy, Quality Meats CreativeAnn Marie Kerwin, Americas Editor, WARC Supporting resources:The Future of Strategy 2026: The future is hard to measure (Joe Burns) https://www.warc.com/en/article/the-future-is-hard-to-measure-1dbdbd7a20454b65b97470b36407f6e8The Future of Strategy 2026: The skills strategists need to thrive in 2026 and beyond (Nikita Walia) https://www.warc.com/en/article/the-skills-strategists-need-c3a1888f29e6467299bf892259f1b7e1The Future of Strategy 2026 (full report) https://www.warc.com/en/article/the-future-of-strategy-2026-d9afde10c3a948d789a91159ae7f23ce  Chapters:[00:00] Intro: The Future of Strategy 2026[02:30] AI Anxiety: Will AI Replace Marketing Strategists?[04:57] Using AI to Prototype and Stress-Test Strategic Ideas[08:45] Why Strategic Insight Is More Than a Polished Deck[11:27] Avoiding AI’s Legibility Trap in Brand Strategy[15:26] Building Brand Differentiation Beyond Advertising[17:52] How Strategists Can Lead Upstream Business Thinking[21:26] Bringing Strategy Into Early Brand Decisions[24:07] Aligning Agency Teams With AI and Shared Context[27:04] The Human Skills AI Can’t Replace: Client Relationships[31:11] Why Beauty Creates Commercial Value for Brands[35:02] Career Advice for Strategists: Look Beyond Marketing[36:28] Start a Business to Build Practical Strategy Skills For 40 years, WARC has been providing the marketing industry with rigorous, unbiased evidence and expert effectiveness guidance. The WARC Podcast publishes a new episode every Tuesday and Thursday. Subscribe to The WARC Podcast here: https://www.warc.com/en/warc-podcasts Sign up to daily WARC News for free: https://www.warc.com/en/latest Book a demo: https://www.warc.com/en/subscribe